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Originally Posted by Clodfobble
With the recent torrential rains, the water treatment facilities were overwhelmed and Austin was put on a "boil water" notice for over a week. That's never happened before that I can recall. I kept thinking that this is how the apocalypse starts: something mundane that just... keeps... going, and suddenly you're a month without clean water and the next shipment of bottled water from the north doesn't arrive and it's instant chaos.
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That reminded me of the maxim that we're only ever four meals away from anarchy, at least on this side of the Atlantic. Read on:
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Riots: Remember the Four Meal Rule
Britain is only ever four meals away from anarchy. So says MI5 and they know a thing or two about public order.
It's a powerful maxim and one that reminds us that lurking in the inner recesses of the minds of many of the people who might pass us every day in the street is the thought that given half a chance, they'd change all this.
Most of the time, most people don't riot. Regular meals, satellite TV, reasonable prospects and faint hope keep anarchic feelings at bay. Rioting takes effort and planning.
But apparent calm can change all too quickly. Witness the behaviour after a cargo ship spewed up its contents on the south coast of England a few years ago.
Within hours, apparently respectable people could be seen carting off consumer goods. One chap trundled off with a motorbike.
Other people's behaviour often determines our own. We make think we're individuals but given the right circumstances, many of us could behave badly.
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